1. Field of the Invention
The antenna art is as old as radio itself, and, along with audio and video devices, it has evolved over time. Antennas, in the nature of the venerable and easily recognized rabbit ears, were part of the evolution of television, and were, in the early 50s and, to a lesser extent today, perched atop the television. Even with the development of roof antennas, retailers, such as Radio Shack®, still sell devices with rabbit ears with directional and amplification features requiring a 120 volt input and a weighted base upon which the device sits. The directional feature is intended to replace the time honored method of manual manipulation of the rabbit ears.
As society becomes more mobile, portable televisions and audio devices became mobile too, and it is not always convenient to have an antenna mounted on a roof or otherwise in the airstream of a moving vehicle. Nor is it always possible to sit an antenna on a seat or dashboard of a moving vehicle under a steel roof.
In truth, there is, at least until now, nothing subtle or unobtrusive about most antennas. While some radios have carbon core antennas that are such, where there is a television signal involved, that a stronger device is required to pull in an acceptable signal in most locations.
2. Overview of the Existing Art
Among the early efforts to adapt the rabbit ear concept of the antenna art is found in Trowbridge U.S. Pat. No. 2,609,593. Trowbridge appears to have placed the rabbit ears on a circular base which is capable of removably adhering to a surface.
Hannaoka U.S. Pat. No. 6,019,340 is a variation on the theme of Trowbridge, although Hannaoka adds a rubber cushion on the base.
More to the point is Ogino et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,805,113, which is a satellite antenna which is mounted to the rear window of a vehicle with planer antenna rods projecting outwardly from a central holder. Pla, in his U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,912, proposes a visually similar unit with an adhesive strip on the base to hold the antenna dipole rods, projecting in a plane therefrom, to a windshield or the like.